


The Sound of a Universe, Shrinking

by misura



Category: Sunshine (2007)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Established Relationship, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 22:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1758247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They name the mission the <i>Icarus II</i>, and Capa its lead scientist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound of a Universe, Shrinking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smaragdbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/gifts).



> prompt: _Capa/Mace, Earth_

"So how will we know?" Mace asks, naked and beautiful, stretched out on Capa's bed like he belongs there.

(He doesn't.)

Capa shrugs. Mace is not the first to ask; he's not even the first to use sex as a way to get closer to the guy who's supposed to have all the answers.

(Capa doesn't. He's got all the right _questions_ , though, or would like to think he does.)

"One day, there will be a particularly beautiful morning," he says. "And we'll know." He's expected in Lab 6 in about fifteen minutes; now would be a good time to get dressed, leave it to Mace to clean up, lock the door behind him before he leaves.

Mace laughs, and Capa realizes it's been a while since he's heard anyone do that. It's as if people are afraid to make jokes, nowadays, as if doing so might somehow jinx the mission.

There is little laughter in this place, but at least there's hope now. Faith.

( _In me,_ Capa tries not to think. _They have faith in me._ He's a scientist; all he can offer are facts, numbers. Chance calculations and best case scenarios. Worst case scenarios, and the assurance that the chance of the happening has been absolutely minimized.)

"Well, I don't know about you, but this morning right here's looking pretty good," Mace says, grinning at him in what is almost as blatant an invitation as the one he issued last night.

Capa snorts, starts to get dressed.

Changes his mind, because really, the mission's either going to make it or not, and nothing he can do right now is going to make any difference.

 

Things change, once they know for certain the _Icarus_ has failed.

Capa expects anger, blame - he even feels he might deserve it, a little. He stays at work late, running simulations, looking for that small flaw he's missed, the decimal point he misplaced. Avoids talking to other people, because they'll either tell him things he already knows or offer the kind of comforting lies he doesn't want to hear.

"You know what they say about all work and no play, right?" Mace says. Presumably, he's tracked Capa down through the central computer; this is not a part of the complex where anyone who is not a physicist might happen to walk by, which is why Capa's here, of course. He assumed he'd be left to work in peace here.

It's easy, sometimes, to underestimate Mace.

Capa'd like to have him thrown out, but all things considered, he's far from sure Security wouldn't throw _him_ out as well. It's late, after all, and there's no rush. No deadline. No crew, waiting for a reply, a solution to some unexpected problem that's come up and wasn't covered in any of Capa's scenarios.

No hope.

"Was there something you wanted?" he asks, not looking up from the screen that keeps insisting reality got it wrong, that they should be having sunlight again, and warmth.

"Heard they're planning on another mission," Mace says.

Capa turns. He hasn't been told - or at least, he thinks he hasn't. There have been a lot of meetings, a great many important looking people asking him questions, nodding solemnly at his answers, as if they understood them perfectly.

"Maybe they'll call this one the _Titanic_ or something," Mace says. "Got a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"It's about the endeavor," Capa says. He hasn't come up with the name; names are unimportant. He's here to make sure the science is sound, because science will be what determines success. "The courage to reach for something higher than ourselves."

"Pride," Mace says. "That's one of the seven deadly sins, right?"

"So is lust," Capa says, abandoning all hope of getting any more work done tonight. He quietly tells his work station to shut itself down. "That doesn't seem to stop you."

"Touché." Mace grins. "C'mon, let me take you home. I'll tuck you into bed, or something."

"Or something." It's been weeks, at least. "Whose bed?"

"Whosever is closest," Mace says, shrugging as if he hasn't looked it up already.

 

They name the mission the _Icarus II_ , and Capa its lead scientist.

It would feel more like a second chance if he'd have found anything in the designs for the _Icarus I_ to point at and blame for its failure; as it is, they're just doing all the same things all over again, scrounging up whatever resources they can still find and hoping it will be enough.

The first time, Capa felt a distance, a certain level of non-involvement. He'd made the calculations, drawn up the specs, run the simulations, but he'd known all along that it would be other people who'd actually be going out there and getting the job done.

He shook their hands and smiled at them, trying not to judge them, to weigh them based on an acquaintance of mere seconds and think they weren't good enough.

This time, it's different.

 _All final decisions are yours,_ they tell him. _Crew, supplies - anything. Yours._

_No pressure._

 

"Take me," Mace says. His lips are slightly swollen and there's a bruise on his left shoulder from this afternoon's training sim.

"I believe that was the general plan for tonight," Capa says, which is true, and not what Mace is really asking.

Crews are tricky things to get just right. Personal involvement with one of the candidates doesn't help.

"You know what I mean," Mace says. "What, you want to go and save the world without me?"

 _Yes,_ Capa thinks, even though he knows there's no rational reason for it. Mace plays well with others, even under pressure; he gets along perfectly fine with at least three of the people who are already on Capa's short list. He's smart, physically fit, psychologically stable.

"Is this why you're here?" he asks. "To seduce me into selecting you for the crew?"

"Yeah," Mace says. "That's it. You got me."

 _So I'd like to believe._ "I'll think about it."

Mace shrugs. "Good enough."


End file.
